Taking Time to Breathe

Life has been so busy since school started I have not had a chance to get back into my studio.  I miss creating in my little studio but I have been getting so much done around my house.  I have had a chance to be somewhat creative as I have been hanging drapes, pictures and putting some much needed finishing touches on areas of my home that have been neglected.  

I always feel that I can't "play" in my studio until all of my work is finished.  I have recently come to realize that if I only allow myself to go into the studio when I have absolutely nothing else to do I will NEVER get in there and that will make for an unhappy girl!  I need to take time to breathe once in awhile and create so my heart and soul can be happy!  It helps make everything else in life more enjoyable!

I recently visited the Etsy shop of a very talented artist, Lisa Jurist from Mudhound Primitives .  Lisa is one of the most inspiring artists I know and I purchased a small mixed media collage from her to hang in my studio, "Life Sat Waiting"-so beautiful!  I'm afraid my photography does not do it justice as it is SO much more beautiful in person.

Here are some of my mixed media collages I made a few months ago.  I am hoping to be able to get into my studio and "play" sometime very soon!

Fabric Cuff Bracelet

That's all for now!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family!  Take time to breathe and remember what you have in your life and be grateful!  :)

Jennifer

Time to Catch Up

It's been three months since I last posted and I am feeling very guilty for neglecting my little blog.  Our summer was so busy with sports camps and practices, shuttling kids here and there and going to the lake every weekend.  Now that the kids are back in school I finally have more of a routine going again and some free time to play in my studio.  I found a little bit of time over the summer to play with paint and collage and am anxious to do some more.   Here are a couple of the pieces I did most recently.  These are both acrylic on canvas with hand stamped collage bits.

These next two I also added some copper colored glass tiles.

That's all for now.  I plan to update more often now that we are back on a normal schedule.  I hope you all had a great summer as well!

My New Studio

Karen from My Desert Cottage is hosting the second annual "Where Bloggers Create" blog party.  A big thank you to Karen for all her hard work and time she put into hosting this fun event! 


This is my first time participating and it's finally time for me to share my new completed studio!  I'm so excited that it is finally finished and everything is in it's place.  I actually had to clean it all back up because I have been working in it for a couple of months now since it's been finished. For those of  you that don't know, over the winter we finished off a bonus area above our garage and built a studio for me and a bathroom and bedroom for our boys.  This is my absolute dream come true to have a dedicated art space to work in.  (YAY ME!)  Here is the first class tour of my new space, enjoy!  (Click on the individual photos to enlarge them.)

             

This is the view when you come up the stairs to my studio.  The curtain covers a little closet built into the roof rafters.  I chose to do a curtain rather than a door to save on space and because I wanted the cottage feel.  I store extra tubs and rolls of fabric in there, tools and other supplies.

                    

This is my little computer desk.  I do computer graphic work here, bookwork, etc.  Look at the cute skin I have on my Macbook.  The little lamp on the desk was bought as a set of two at an antique store and I found the desk at Wal Mart.  

                         

Here is my sitting area.  My love seat and ottoman are from Ikea, the vintage mirror from an antique shop, and I found the chandelier at a tag sale about ten years ago and never had a use for it until now.  The curtains are actually shower curtains I found years ago as well and never used until now.  Below is a close up of the light, it was the perfect color, I didn't even have to paint it!

                            

Notice the painted wood plank ceiling.  I wanted that cottage/porch look.  I also have an exhaust fan in the ceiling so I can burn, solder and use resin/chemicals and not drop dead from the fumes!  :)

                   

                             

This is my dresser from Ikea, tons of storage!  I keep tissue paper, containers of beads, small tools, pens, pencils, paper, small odds and ends in here.  On top I have a cube divider from Target with more storage.  vintage containers with paint brushes, ribbon organizers, vintage books, vintage canning jars with holding buttons, brown cloth boxes hold fabric, crinkle ribbon and silk ribbon, magazines, artwork made by my kids and other favorite things.

                             

Antique letter press printer's blocks.  Notice I arranged them with my birthday in the middle, 3-4-67  :)

                              

My favorite vintage book,  The Banner Anthem Book.  I love the tone on tone colors and the tattered spine.  I photograph a lot of my jewelry on it.  Next to the book is a little silver plate leaf dish, I found at a flea market, filled with rhinestone findings I use in my jewelry.  The "Live, Laugh, Love" frame was made for me by my daughter.  

                             
Fabric cuff bracelets were made by me.  

                            

                          

My main work table where I do my jewelry and sewing.  I made a skirt for the table that matches the closet curtain to cover up all the tubs of fabric underneath the table.  I couldn't find a reasonably priced vintage dress form so I bought a new one and stained it with coffee and tea.  The fabric and canvas mixed media collages on the wall beside the dress form are made by me.  

                            

                  

                      

My shelves with all my containers and tubs filled with stamp pads, acrylic paints, mixed media collage bits and bobs, tools, papers, fibers, etc. etc. etc........

                              

My beadboard cabinets and sink.  Yay-I have a sink!  Now my husband doesn't have jars with paintbrushes soaking in his bathroom anymore!!!

                             

Last, but not least, one of my favorite things is my "J" from, you guessed it, Anthropologie.  I LOVE that store, the closest one is 4 hours away from me so for now I will have to rely on the internet, although I did pick this guy up at Christmas time while I was in Minneapolis Christmas shopping.  Hanging from my J are two of my necklaces that I made.

Thank you so much for looking!  I can't wait to see everyone else's creative spaces!  :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jen

2nd Annual Where Bloggers Create party- June 19th, 2010!!!! It’s time again to share your creative spaces!!!

This is my first year participating in the Where Bloggers Create blog party and I'm SO excited!  I can't wait to see everyone's creative spaces and share mine with everyone.  They are giving out several fabulous prizes so join in the fun!  Click on the link at the left for more details and to sign up!

Rain, Rain Don't Go Away!

I'll bet you're wondering why I say, "Rain, rain don't go away".  Well, for starters, I have TONS of yard work to do!  Flowers to plant, mulch to put in, weeds to kill and I need to finish my little fish pond in my back yard that I tore out last Fall to re-do and didn't finish.  Since it's been raining, however, I have not "been able" to do any of that so instead I've been playing in my studio and not feeling guilty because I have all this other work to do!  Although, I must confess that I do not care for the rain and 50 degree weather when I have to go watch my daughter at her track meet.  I have also been getting my Spring house cleaning done which always feels good!


Here are a few of the jewelry pieces I've been spending my time on. 

         

                  

                    
Well, it's pouring rain outside again today so you know where to find me!  Have a happy day all!

April Showers

Hello Again!  It has been quite awhile since my last blog post and I have a lot of catching up to do.  Last time I wrote I said I had just won a beautiful piece of artwork by Carol Brungar in her blog, Madness and Mess, giveaway.  This is the first time I've won anything and I was SO excited to receive it--and ALL the way from New Zealand! Below are the photos of her fabric collectable postcard and the envelope it came in.  Such a beautiful package!  You can check out her blog by clicking on the link above or go to her Etsy shop and see what she's been creating!

                    

                    

Beautiful creations such as this always inspire me and keep me motivated to create! 

We're Getting Closer!

Just a few updated photos of our little building project.  We are getting closer to being finished.  Just a few more nail holes to be filled, another coat of paint and it's finished!  I am hoping I can move in some furniture this weekend.....even if they have to paint around it!  (Just kidding)  Please disregard the random construction supplies.

 

               

My Building Project

It's Monday and the kids got a day off from school because of the weather.  It's been fun hanging out since they are "trapped" here with me and can't leave the house-quality family time!  


Today is also giving me some time to catch up on things I have been putting off because of lack of time.  We have all been working hard on our construction project which involves finishing off an unfinished space above our garage.  One of the fun things I am doing up there is building my dream studio!  Now, I've had craft/art rooms in my home before but never a dedicated spot built just for me and my art.   Best of all I have a sink, no more washing paint brushes in the bathrooms!  No more glass grinding for stained glass on the kitchen island!  (But don't hold me to that--sometimes I like to be where all the action is, even if it means we'll be eating tiny glass shards with our food)  I thought I would post some photos of our little garage attic area during the process.  Below are the photos after we cleaned out the attic and before the building started.  I'm so excited for it to be finished I can hardly stand myself!

That's all for now!  If you have any good ideas for a studio space or would like to share photos of your space I would love to see them!  

KC Willis Marketing Mindset

I would like to tell everyone about an online workshop I have joined called, KC Willis Marketing Mindset-Navigating the Art Market.  KC willis is a fabulous mixed media artist.  She will be covering ways to market your art and how to get over the fear of marketing it.  I have been participating in the online discussions and looking forward to the first video.  If you sign up now the price is reduced to $144 (regular price is $244).  I am also signed up for one of her other online workshops, "Collage Camp" which has 6 videos and is full of great information and tutorials.  Collage Camp is only $75 to sign up for right now, which is a bargain!  I have also connected with many other talented artists and have gained much inspiration!  KC is a great teacher and you're sure to enjoy!


Jennifer

Happy 2010!

OK-A little background information on me.  Ever since I was a little girl I have been creating things.  Some of the things that stand out are Barbie Doll clothes, jewelry out of Chestnuts (yes, you heard right, Chestnuts-the nut---broke a lot of needles trying to string those babies!), crocheting and knitting various items, making pottery on the pottery wheel in art class (one of my favorites), painting, drawing, cutting, taping, gluing, sewing, etc. etc. etc.  I was 10 or 11 when my friend and I made the Chestnut jewelry then we hit the streets to sell them. We sold a few (I'm sure people bought out of pity) until my parents tracked us down and made us come home.  The crafting continued until adulthood with some lapses in between for junior high, high school, etc, when my main focus and hobby was to be and look "cool" and "fit in". That was an art in and of itself, as any adult woman knows.  

Then came the college years.  Not a lot of extra time but style/fashion and necessity (lack of funds) lead to creativity and I could be found in the laundry room in the dorms bleaching and dyeing jeans, jean jackets, sweaters, t-shirts, whatever would look cool.  The later years of college would bring out my flair for decorating dumpy apartments.  No matter how dumpy the place was, I found that with a few cute bed sheets used as slipcovers or curtains and contact paper used to laminate ugly counter tops I could transform it into a pretty sweet pad!  I was always coming up with creative ideas.  Everything that I saw I thought to myself, "I can make that" so I'd go home and figure out a way to make it for a fraction of the cost.  

Then came the married and baby years.  As an "at home" mom I started just about every craft known to man.  These included but were not limited to:  paper making, rubber stamping, card making, stained glass, glass fusing in a kiln, jewelry making, soap making, lotion making, stamp carving.........you get the picture.  It would have all been fine if I was one of those neat organized little crafters with a tiny little Rubbermaid box for each craft stacked neatly on a shelf but I'm NOT! Everything I do is full force, all out, 250%!  I mean when I was making paper, I was ordering Kozo bark from some tree from somewhere in the world (to make Mulberry paper) and buying caustic soda to boil it in and then smashing it up to suspend it in a special gel solution to make the handmade paper.  Then there were the paper presses all over the floors and makeshift clotheslines strung throughout the house with paper hanging from them.  When I started making jewelry I shortly thereafter decided I needed to blow my own beads so I went out and bought some torches. Then, about ten minutes after that I decided I was going to start glass fusing and a glass kiln appeared in my little art room/studio.  That's how I do things.  I'm thinking that instead of the little Rubbermaid boxes for each different craft I could maybe use those portable storage containers that hook on the back of trucks.  You know, the kind people use for moving, except I would use them as a modular storage system, just on a bit larger scale.

I am a visual person. When I am making jewelry, for example, I have to have ALL of my 10,000 kinds of beads out where I can see them because "you never know what you might want to use". You never know what two beads will end up rolling together and inspire a new design.   I wish I could be more organized when I work but it is impossible.  I want to know where and who these people are that have these neat and tidy studios that I am ever so envious of.  Please tell me, do you people really work like that or do you just clean up your studios for the photos?  Please tell me it's the latter, then I won't feel so badly about mine.  Hey, maybe I should start an online support group for messy artists!?!

That is all for now.  I hope I have not bored you.  I wanted to give you a little history so you would know how I got here today.  I would LOVE to hear your stories for hobbies, crafting stories, ideas, photos, etc. so please post. Goodbye for now!